Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Inclined to bold or confident assertion; aggressively self-assured.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Positive; dogmatic; affirming confidently; peremptory; affirmative.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Positive; affirming confidently; affirmative; peremptory.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective boldly self-assured; confident without being aggressive

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective aggressively self-assured

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

assert +‎ -ive

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Examples

  • In its annual defense white paper, released Tuesday, the Japanese government for the first time used the word "assertive" in describing China's behavior toward its neighbors.

    Japan Arrests Chinese Fishing Captains Mari Iwata 2011

  • Patterson seems like a decent fellow, but lacking in assertive leadership skills.

    Matthew Yglesias » New York Needs a Senator! 2009

  • Billups was assertive from the start, instead of deferring to teammates as he usually does early in games.

    USATODAY.com - Basketball - Chicago vs. Detroit 2006

  • The future figures for July will prove if it's a question of "personal appeal" orchestrated by an "assertive" -- let's be euphmistic -- ad campaign ... or voters who are looking critically at the platform of the candidate and how he's changed it.

    Poll: Obama Pulls Into Narrow Lead In Nevada 2009

  • Being assertive is saying, politely but firmly “I don’t like that.”

    Aggressive or Assertive? « Awful Library Books 2010

  • There are three things that Democrats absolutely don't understand about the notion of assertive leadership.

    The Perils of Passivity 2010

  • Predictions and counterfactual assertions are advanced conditioned by the assumption that no other exogenous causal factors intervene; that is, the assertive content of the hypothesis is that the economic processes under analysis will unfold in the described manner absent intervening causal factors.

    Correspondence, abstraction, and realism Daniel Little 2008

  • Predictions and counterfactual assertions are advanced conditioned by the assumption that no other exogenous causal factors intervene; that is, the assertive content of the hypothesis is that the economic processes under analysis will unfold in the described manner absent intervening causal factors.

    Archive 2008-12-01 Daniel Little 2008

  • Although I'm sure she thinks that is just some sexist pig not thinking women can be powerful and assertive, which is bullshit....women can be both of those things, but she is still plain bitchy.

    Herd Leaves Race, Endorses Dale Mallory Nathaniel Livingston 2006

  • He's also assertive, which is useful, and generous, which is also useful.

    Teamwork, Part I Emma Goldman 2005

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